Research reportFront-of-pack nutrition labels. Their effect on attention and choices when consumers have varying goals and time constraints☆
Highlights
► Consumers evaluate nutrition tables positively but give these only limited attention and use in food choice. ► MTL labels and directive logos can enhance healthy choices, even under time pressure. ► Health goals related to specific nutrients increase attention to and use of nutrition labels.
Section snippets
Front-of-pack nutrition labels
Front-of-pack nutrition labels in a great diversity of formats have a high presence in many countries (Storcksdieck genannt Bonsmann et al., 2010). They are based on a limited number of key nutrients (typically salt, sugar, saturated fat and total fat) in which consumers show most interest (Balasubramanian & Cole, 2002) and of which the negative health effects have been well documented (WHO, 2003).
Three major groups of labels can be identified (Grunert & Wills, 2007), and these differ in their
Evaluation of, attention to, and use of nutrition labels
For nutrition information to have a possible impact on decision making, it needs to be initially appealing, attended to and processed, and used as a basis for decision making (see Grunert & Wills, 2007 for a more extensive scheme). Each of these stages cannot be taken for granted in the context of front-of-pack nutrition labels.
Participants and design
Participants were 309 students from a Dutch University ranging in age from 17 to 32 years (mean = 20.8), with 65% of them female. Students with relevant food allergies or color blindness were excluded from participation. After giving informed consent, participants were randomly assigned to one of the conditions in a 4 (labeling scheme: none, logo, MTL, nutrition table) ×3 (goal: preference, general health, low salt) between subjects design.
Procedure
Because only the nutrition table is currently present in
Time pressure
A limitation of the first experiment is that participants were given unlimited time to process information and make their choice. In reality, consumers often experience time constraints. Time is a scarce resource, and time pressure has been shown to be a barrier to healthy eating behavior (Jabs and Devine, 2006, Welch et al., 2008), although knowledge of nutrition can mitigate this (Mothersbaugh, Herrmann, & Warland, 1993). Additionally, consumers under time pressure alter their attention
Experiment 2: Nutrition labels and time pressure
This experiment has two main objectives. First, it investigates the effect of time pressure on attention to nutrition labels and choice behavior. Second, it examines the generalizability of the results of experiment 1 on the effectiveness of different labeling schemes to a different country. Goal condition is kept constant: all participants receive a general health goal.
General discussion
Front-of-pack nutrition labels can enhance healthy choices among consumers. Yet, their effectiveness depends both on the labeling scheme that is used and on top-down factors such as time constraints and consumer goals. The latter is in line with previous research showing that consumers who value dietary guidelines or for whom health is important are more likely to use nutrition labels (Nayga et al., 1998, Visschers et al., 2010). When a general health goal is salient, healthy choices are
References (42)
- et al.
What determines consumer attention to nutrition labels?
Food Quality and Preference
(2010) - et al.
Front-of-pack nutrition labelling. Testing effectiveness of different nutrition labelling formats front-of-pack in four European countries
Appetite
(2008) - et al.
Nutrition knowledge, and use and understanding of nutrition information on food labels among consumers in the UK
Appetite
(2010) - et al.
Time scarcity and food choices. An overview
Appetite
(2006) - et al.
More effective nutrition label formats are not necessarily preferred
Journal of the American Dietetic Association
(1992) - et al.
Visual attention during brand choice. The impact of time pressure and task motivation
International Journal of Research in Marketing
(1999) - et al.
Consumers’ search and use of nutrition information. The challenge and promise of the nutrition labeling and education act
Journal of Marketing
(2002) - et al.
Impact of different food label formats on healthiness evaluation and food choice of consumers. A randomized-controlled study
BMC Public Health
(2009) - et al.
Eye fixations and memory for emotional events
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
(1991) - et al.
Free competition and the optimal amount of fraud
Journal of Law and Economics
(1973)
A practical guide to the use of response latencies in social psychological research
Attitude, intention and behavior. An introduction to theory and research
Evidence for top-down control of eye movements during visual decision making
Journal of Vision
Use and understanding of nutrition information on food labels in six European countries
Journal of Public Health
A review of European research on consumer response to nutrition information on food labels
Journal of Public Health
Response styles in cross-national survey research. A 26-country study
International Journal of Cross Cultural Management
How do consumers use nutrition label information?
Nutrition & Food Science
An examination of consumer decision making for a common repeat purchase product
Journal of Consumer Research
Cited by (256)
How a health goal activation drives the Nutri-Score effect
2024, Food Quality and PreferenceConsumer preference for nutrition front-of-pack-label formats in India: Evidence from a large-scale experimental survey
2023, Food Quality and PreferenceHow sweet odors affect healthy food choice: An eye-tracking study
2023, Food Quality and PreferenceMainstreaming eating agrobiodiversity: Appealing with heron labels and boosting with loach labels
2023, Food Quality and PreferenceConsumer concerns over food insecurity drive reduction in the carbon footprint of food consumption
2023, Sustainable Production and Consumption
- ☆
The authors gratefully acknowledge the European Community financial contribution under the Seventh Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities, for the Small Collaborative Project FLABEL (Contract no. 211905). The content of the paper reflects only the views of the authors; the European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained in this paper. The authors are indebted to Inna Ivanova, Ramon Roos, Yesim Kustepeli, Sedef Akgungor, and Yaprak Gulcan for their help in collecting datasets. They thank Charo Hodgkins for her help in constructing the food labels.